Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government

The Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government is a position with the UK Opposition's Shadow Cabinet; if the opposition party forms a new government, the designated person is a likely choice to become the new Communities Secretary.

Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
Incumbent Steve Reed since 6 April 2020
Shadow Cabinet
Appointer	Leader of the Opposition
Formation	11 June 1997
First holder	Norman Fowler
Website	Shadow Cabinet

The position has existed in many iterations, first as Environment, Transport and the Regions in 1997 after the Government's reorganisation. The portfolio shifted among government departments for many years until resting on its current name in 2006.

Under Michael Howard, the arrangement was slightly different. There was a Shadow Secretary of State for Local and Devolved Government Affairs in Shadow Cabinet who supervised a Shadow Local Government Secretary and a Shadow Regions Secretary outside of it.[1]

The current Shadow Communities Secretary is Steve Reed who succeeded Andrew Gwynne in April 2020. Following the 2018 British cabinet reshuffle, Theresa May added Housing in England to the portfolio. However, the Shadow Cabinet of Jeremy Corbyn, has a Shadow Communities Secretary, along with a separate Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, as Corbyn has indicated that if Labour form the next government, they will create a separate government department for housing; a practise continued by Sir Keir Starmer.